burning each other up as we ram into those orbits,
thankful that inertia lets us pretend
we’re such a “big deal,” speaking in metaphors
because euphemism is too direct, direct because
we’re making a show of hiding somethingand
saying what it is that we’re hiding by way of negation.

And WHOOSH! Every time one goes by
I say this, and trace its afterimage
with my finger. I want the world to know
the universe is burning up
around us.